National Health Education Standards

The National Health Education Standards (NHES) detail what students need to know and be able to do in order to achieve health literacy, by setting performance indicators around the functional knowledge and essential skills required for adopting and maintaining healthy behaviors. All lessons in Middle School and High School FLASH have been aligned with the HECAT sexual health module of the National Health Education Standards.

FLASH meets the NHES in many ways:

Standard 1: Comprehending Concepts. FLASH covers nearly all of the recommended concepts related to sexual health promotion and disease prevention. This basic knowledge is woven throughout the curriculum, and is applied by students to real-life scenarios in order to help them develop the skills necessary to keep themselves healthy.

Standard 2: Analyzing Influences. Within the lessons, students analyze the influence of family, peers, media, technology and other factors on health behaviors. Students complete Family Homework in order to better understand and critically assess the values of their families, cultures and communities. Students identify influences on their health behaviors and attitudes and evaluate how these influences affect them. Finally, students practice strategies for creating positive influences in their own communities.

Standard 3: Accessing Resources. Students learn about resources available in their communities, and learn how to find resources on their own. They learn in what situations it is necessary to access those resources, and about the relevant laws that might impact their ability to access resources.

Standard 4: Interpersonal Communication. FLASH offers many opportunities to learn and practice communication skills in order to support healthy behaviors. Students learn to communicate effectively with family, peers and dating partners; resolve conflicts; resist pressure to participate in risky behaviors; and ask for help when they need it.

Standard 5: Decision Making. Students practice making decisions that will support them in avoiding pregnancy, STDs and sexual violence. The latest research in adolescent decision making is applied to support young people in making healthy decisions in situations where both their emotions and the stakes are high. Students are prepared to make good decisions about sexual health in their own lives.

Standard 6: Goal Setting. FLASH offers students the opportunity to set goals to improve or maintain their sexual health, including opportunities to identify and address possible barriers to achieving those goals. Additionally FLASH teaches the skills required to achieve those goals in order to enhance the effectiveness of goal setting.

Standard 8: Advocacy. Students have the opportunity to act as advocates for personal and community health related to the prevention of pregnancy, STDs and sexual violence. Not only do these opportunities improve students’ advocacy skills, they offer powerful opportunities to shift norms in order to support healthy behaviors

The specific performance indicators met within each lesson are clearly identified in each lesson, as well as in the alignment grids.